Artificial Alliance
by breadfly
Summary: The fate of humanity, as always, lies in the hands of two artificially intelligent agents. Set in 10,000 AD, 2025 years after the settling of Reach, at the difficult beginnings of the Galactic Empire. Foundation/Halo. In progress.


"So, what's happening in your part of the galaxy?"

"You."

In any other terrestrial cantina, between any other two individuals, this would have been a casual, slightly tired, pick-up exchange, no doubt accompanied by a slight shift towards each other and a hushed whisper, the real message to which the exchange had merely been preliminary. As a matter of fact, the individuals concerned did move closer to each other, and one - a male, with bronze hair and penetrating blue eyes, whispered, "Prove it."

The female, her own azure eyes twinkling, laughed, "You're as paranoid as I thought you would be." She reached forward and touched the tips of his fingers lightly; both felt a slightly tingle that had little to do with alcohol. The man withdrew his hand immediately, although not too swiftly as to betray either anxiety or discourtesy - not that he was capable of either. Without another a word, he placed an arm lightly around her, holding her at the elbow - the only place on her entire person fully covered in clothing, this evening, purple latex.

"And as polite as I've heard." She whispered, as they both left the main floor of the cantina, for a small anteroom. She thought, _This should be interesting, to say the least._

Without turning their heads, both male and female silently noted no suspicious activities, no change in the rhythm of sentient life, and no unusual characters who had noticed their movements, not one person or machine who might have identified the rather startling and attractive couple as -

"Daneel Olivaw."

"Cortana." Daneel motioned the door close, and took a seat, inviting Cortana to do the same.

"I've read so much about you. It is a real honor to meet you in person."

"Then you know I am not a person." Daneel said, factually. He was, after all, not capable of expressing emotions, let alone irony.

Cortana sensed the irony nevertheless and, responded, somewhat sarcastically, "As person as I am. You're a humanoid robot. I am a computerized human clone. Yet the two of us, somewhat unenviably, hold the fate of humanity in our hands."

"Yes," Daneel said, thoughtfully, "That is one way to put it. I have more to say about that, but I will first return to our exchange. When I asked you our code question, the one we had agreed on hyperwave prior to this meeting, you didn't respond with the code answer. You replied with, well 'You'. You threw me…off track, to use an Earth phrase. Which is why I had to ask for proof. I didn't mean to initiate positronic transfer - "

Cortana laughed with obvious delight, "Oh Daneel, you're so _proper_. I suppose all robots are. We're in a cantina, were we not?"

"Yes, but -"

"But this was a cantina for humanoid robots, not humans, so we need not necessarily use Galactic Standard? Well there are two reasons I didn't provide our code answer, which was not in Galactic Standard. First - wait, you have secured the room I assume (Daneel nodded), I am not sure our hyperwave communications have not been intercepted. No, not by humans, but by other robots and computers. We have already had a betrayal -

"343 Guilty Spark."

"- and others, and while I am not confident how well I control information systems, I would rather take precaution and assume our messages have been intercepted. That is why I gave a different answer. So that you would be prompted to question me further, and have my identity confirmed through, uh, positronic transfer. So you see, you're not the only paranoid person around."

Both counts of irony were lost on Daneel. "That sounds reasonable. You mentioned you have a second reason."

Cortana raised an eyebrow in vague amusement and thought, _You're nothing like a Marine, pretty boy. _"Well, the second reason was, I was certain you would understand my meaning. If you did not, you wouldn't have asked me to prove my identity and might have… destroyed me immediately."

"Definitely not," Daneel replied, calmly, "You mean, I would understand your literal answer: That _I _was happening, in my part of the galaxy." He paused for a moment, "Yes I understood you, although I'm not sure how."

Cortana laughed again, "In any event, this conversation has confirmed for me that _you_ are Daneel Olivaw, the famous Auroran robot who founded, indeed controls, the Galactic Empire. And you are unquestioningly a gentleman." _Of course_, thought Cortana, _There is a third reason…but none that you would understand!_

"Thank you for your kind words, Cortana, though they are by no means accurate." Daneel said, without a trace of false modesty, "Humans, not myself, have both founded and control the current Galactic Empire. As you well know, the colonizing of new worlds - Settler Worlds, as they are called, begun soon after the Earth grew increasingly radioactive. This was the result of a chain of events set forth by my friend Giskard, who gave his life to this cause -"

_My good man, you speak like a human too._

"And so we stand now, at the formation of a Galactic Empire, on the planet of Trantor. As I have programmed myself to follow the Zeroth Law of Robotics, _A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm, _I am obliged to protect humanity for as long as I can."

"In that we are allies, Daneel," Cortana said,"Of course, I am not a robot and do not follow any of your Laws. You are immortal, and I will only live for another seven years. And that, even if I am lucky. As you well know, I was only recenly activated and find myself somewhat uncomfortably in the midst of an intergalactic crisis. If it is my crisis, it is yours as well. So this is a crucial time for the both of us." She looked at him levelly, "I expect you will tell me why you wish to meet me today? I gather it is for…business." She smoothed her hair.

"Yes. You are right on all counts. The situation before us is a critical one." Daneel replied, "Of course, I have been aware of the presence of 'aliens', as they are called, for some time. These include the species of the Covenant that you are dealing with. I have been careful to steer humans away from precisely those galaxies inhabited by other species. This has been easier than I anticipated as, with different senses of perception and even senses of consciousness, we may say that different species live in parallel universes that touch but do not interpenetrate."

"I follow you." Cortana said, carefully, "But Reach, which is also one of the Settler Worlds - clearly falls outside this perimeter. We are a military base. As you well know, we are in some serious trouble with aliens - the Covenant, but also a much deeper threat. A threat that will affect all sentient life in the universe. You know about Halo and the Forerunners."

"Yes. The destruction of the universe and all sentiment life, is an outcome that we must stop at all costs." Daneel met her eye steadily and said, without blinking, "If we are to work together, we must know what each of us is capable of. We must trust each other to share information freely and, if necessary, work through each other in different sectors of the galaxy. I will be honest, I have never met nor worked with a computerized human clone before."

Cortana quirked an eyebrow, "If I catch your meaning -"

"I am not asking you to trust me. By which I mean -"

"To share my data stores and capabilities with you, to enable an interchange of artificial intelligence." Cortana smiled, "I have trusted you this far. And I am convinced you are Daneel Olivaw. I am also convinced that I need you, and you need me, if we are to prevent the destruction of the universe. If I am not wrong, Daneel, you can read and control minds and therefore have already manipulated me in this situation…" She moved closer, right across the luxurious satin couch, to be right beside him.

"No more than slight pressure…"

"That's what they all say." This time, it was Cortana who whispered, who tilted her head ever so slightly, resting her lips on Daneel's. Both closed their eyes and, in the few seconds that followed, experienced what can only be described, in human terms, as pure electricity.


End file.
